Printing of photographic films



H. v. LAWLEY. PRINTING 0F P HOTOGRAPHIC FILMS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 11, I92]. 4

r Patented. Apr. 25, 1922.

3 SHEETSSHEET I.

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H.'V LAWLEY. PRINTING 0F PHOTOGRAPHIC FILMS.

APPLICATION FILED FEE-11,1921.

Patented Apr. 25, 1922.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

PRI NT|NG 0F PHOTOGRAPHIC FILMS. APPLICATION man FEB. 11, 1921.

Fig.6.

H. V. LAWLEY.

UNITED STATES PATENT ,QFFlC-E.

HENRY VASSAR LA'WLEY, OF KENSINGTON, LONDON, ENGLAND.

' PRINTING OF PHOTOGRAPHIG FILMS.

To (all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY VASSAR LAW- LEY, of Kensington, London, W. 8.,England, a British subject, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in the Printing of Photographic Films, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to the printing of photographic films chiefly ofthe classes used for cinematographic purposes, and the object is toprovide a novel method and means whereby such printing may be effectedin an entirely automatic manner throughout to produce the properintensity of light according to the varying intensity of the picture orpictures on the film. The invention is distinct from a known methodwhich provides means for sounding an alarm when it is necessary tomanually change the printing light and in which an edge of the film iscut away or notched to permit a contact to be made to produce the alarm,the light required being then applied by 'the operator after inspectionof a previously prepared card or chart giving the varying degrees oflighting for the different sections of the film.

Othenmeans used at present which are termed automatic printers consistof an intermittently moving disc or drum on which are pegged contacts,for the purpose of automatically switching in a .light of predeterminedprinting power. A notch is placed in the film on or before each sectionand as each notch passes through, a contact is made and the disc or drumis caused to move on by means of a ratchet for a distance of onepointinto the next contact. The contacts are inserted in the disc orcylinderby hand according to a card or ,chart. Each notch in the film actuateselectrically a ratchet mov ing the disc or cylinder one notch.

According to the present invention the use of such card or charts isdispensed with, and the film negative is repared in such a manner thatthe particul quired for different sections of the film will be entirelyautomatically applied as or before thefilm is caused to pass through theusual printing gate or other; similar device provided in the apparatus,thus enabling the actual printing operation to be performed by unskilledoperators.

The invention may be carried out in a number of different ways, but itessentially consists in the provision of electric contacts or means forproducing same at one or both ar intensity of light re-- Specificationof Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 25, 1922. Application filed February11, 1921. Serial No. 444,118;

sides or edges of the film, these contacts being spaced along the filmat different .dis-

tances from one or more key contacts and these distances determiningwhich light shall be applied by the closing of one of a number ofdifferent circuits according to which contacts are in operation.

The contacts are provided on the film during its initial inspection orgrading for the determination of the intensity of light required .forthe different sections and nothing remains for the printing operator toperform in connection with the actual lighting operations.

The invention consists of an improved method for the entirely automaticprinting of films and in the improved apparatus whereby said automatic"printing may be carried into practical operation, all as set forth inthe following specification and particularly as pointed out in theclaim.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings 1n;

which Fig. 1 is a front elevation showing the general arrangement of afilm printing machine with part of the invention, 'viz:' the contactarrangement, applied thereto.

Fig. 2 is an elevation on an enlarged scale showing said contactarrangement.

Fig. 3 is a View of part of a film showing key contact and a lightingcontact thereon.

Fig. 4: is a side elevation on a still further enlarged scale showingone of the circuit closers for the lighting circuit.

Fig. 5 is a plan view on. a reduced scale showing the whole switch boardand a number of circuit closers as illustrated in Fig. 4 thereon, and

Fig. 6 is a trio connections and circuits employed.

To refer firstly to Figs. 1 to 3 the former figure shows the front platea of a conventional form of film printing machine, this plate supportingflanged spindles a and a for carrying the film reels for unwind ng andre-winding respectively. On leaving the upper spindle a the film passesunder a guide Z), then through a contact gate 1), hereinafter described,then under a second guide 6 over a driving sprocket roller 0, thenceunder guides 0 and a passing the printing aperture 0 behind which 1slocated the electric lamp, thence over another diagram illustrating theelecspindle a. v

fill

The contact gate 5 above referred to and shown more clearly in Fig. 2taken in con junction with the conductive contacts (Z and d attached tothe film d (Fig, 3) will now be described.

For each section or picture of the film (Z in which a change ol printinglight is to take place, there is provided a key contact al in the formof a conductive clip located at one edge or side of the film and anothercooperating conductive contact (Z either at the same or at the oppositeedge'or side of the film and at such a determined distance from the keycontact as corresponds to the particular degree of light required forthe film section in question. ln the particular case under considerationa contact d is shown at a point corresponding to that re quired for alight of No. 8 intensity, and the description in connection will beretained throughout the specification. The said contacts are suitably inthe form of small metal clips attached to the film as by placing theirends through certain of the usual periorations 0Z adjacent the edges ofthe film and bending them flat at the rear.

The film, as above described, is caused to pass through the contact gate6 in advance of the printing aperture 0 and said gate comprises anon-conductive base 6 carrying bars or rails e divided into a number ofinsulated sections with intermediate conductive contacts shown ascomprising a key contact e and others designated by the numerals 1 to 10corresponding to the different intensities of light required. The gateis also provided with a hinged cover or door 6 (shown open in Figure 2but closed in Figure 1) this door being provided on its upper surfacewith conductive bars 6 adapted to coincide with the bars 6 on the baseand spaced apart therefrom, when the door is closed, and coupledtogether outside by a conductive connection 0 (Figure 1).

Thus, as the film passes through the gate a circuit will be completedthrough the key contacts (Z on the film and e on the gate, then throughone bar e connection 6 sec- 0nd bar 6, film contact (Z and gate contactNo. 8 (or any other number according to the position of the contact onthe film) and thence through a connection f (Figure 1) to the switchboard and lighting ,circuit to be hereinafter described. It will thus beseen that the bars 6 connected together by the connection a or either ofsaid bars, form or forms a connecting member which, in the operation ofthe device, is positioned adjacent to the contacts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8, 9 and 10 and e and is spaced apart therefrom, the film (Z with itscontacts (Z and 0Z being adapted to connect said contacts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,

6, 7, 8, 9 and 10, or either of them with the key contact e by means ofsaid connecting member. It will be obvious, as the film .passes throughthe gate and the contacts colights be required, for instance, more thancan be conveniently provided for by the size of the gate, and to avoidundue length of said gate 1 may arrange the gate contacts to cooperatewith the film contacts in such a manner that any particular pair of contacts may serve for two different lights, for instance in practice, onegate contact may serve for lights designated 1 and 6, another for lights2 and 7, a third for lights 3 and 8 and so on according to the totalnumber of different intensities of light required.

The preferred apparatus employed for closing the lamp circuits will nowbe described, reference being directed to Figs. 1, 5, and 6 of thedrawings. As shown in Fig. 5 there is provided, one for each change oflight, in the present case ten in number, a tumbler switch each of whichcomprises a pair of electro-magnets or coils g and g and a pivotedarmature 9 one end of which is provided with extensions dipping intomercury cups 9 and the other end of which is counterbalanced by anadjustable nut mounted on a screw 9 which is held against accidentaldisplacement by a light spring The armatures g are pivotally mounted bymeans of pins h in grooves h in a bus-' bar 7L extending between the twoseries of magnets; Each electro-magnet g is also fitted with a shuntdevice comprising a spring armature 2' adapted to be attracted by a polepiece 71 mounted on the top of the magnet g, the arrangement being suchthat when the magnet g is energized the armature 2' is also attracted toshort circuit the magnet 9 corresponding to the pair, for a described tocontact No. 8 and thence through the conductor j to electro-magnet orcoil 9, which is energized from battery m, through connection 7%,bus-bar h and connections, attracts its armature and.

closes the circuit through the extensions 7 and mercury cups 9, thenceover the resistance k, through the lamp Z, conductor 971., battery m,conductor 12 to other coils 9 through all of which it passes (withexception of No. 8) by means of series connections a which connect saidcoils together to energize same and hold the respective tumbler switchesopen by reason of the armatures being held by the coils in the positionillustrated in dotted lines Fig. 4: with the extensions 9 out of contactwith their respective mercury cups 9 and thence back to key-contact e byway of conductor 0.

It will be obvious that the greater the length of the resistance iswhich the current has to traverse the less intense will be the lightproduced at lamp Z. The holding open of all switches except No. 8 isvery necessary to ensure that immediately the light is changed only thecoil 9 for the particular light is energized and anypreviously closedswitches are at once re-opened, thus avoiding any possibility of twoswitches being closed at the same time.

The coil 9 of No. 8 is short-circuited by the shunt device 2' 71 thusavoiding the energization of this coil and any tendency which mightarise in consequence of the switch for the light desired beingimproperly reopened, and in this case the return circuit, instead ofpassing through the coil 9 of No. 8 as mentioned, is shunted by theshunt device through an auxiliary circuit including the conductor p,switch i (shown 1 closed for No. 8) and conductor 1". The circuit ofonly one pair of coils has-been described since the' description appliesto all the others which are similarly arranged.

The attractive effort of the coils g is sufiicient to release the rearend of the armature g from the restraining effect of the light spring 9but on the other hand this spring retains the armature in open-circuitposition against vibration or other exterior influences likely to occur.

What I claim as m to secure by Letters States is 1. A method for theentirely automatic printing of photographic films, which consist-s inproviding the films with conductive contact means, passing said filmthrough a device also provided with contact means adapted to co-operatewith those on the film, passing the film past a printing aperture andconnecting the contact means of said invention and desire atent of theUnited I device with a source of light whereby the intensity of thelatter will be increased or reduced according to the co-operation ofdifi'erent contacts on the film and device.

2. A method for the entirely automatic printing of photographic films,which consists in providing the film with a key contact and with aplurality of other contacts at various distances from the key contactaccording to the intensity of light required for printing differentsections of the film, passing the latter through a device provided withcontacts adapted to co-operate with those of the film, passing the filmpast a printing aperture behind which is a source of electric light, andconnecting the contacts of said device with said source of light wherebythe intensity of the latter will be increased or reduced according tothe. co-

"of photographic films, comprising a .fil

operation of different contacts on the film and device corresponding tothe aforesaid difierent sections of film.

3. A method for the entirely automatic printing of photographic films,which consists in providing the film with conductive contact means,passing said film through a device also provided with contact meansadapted to co-operate with those on the film, passing the film past anilluminated printing aperture, and electrically connecting the contactsof said device to a source of illumination adjacent the printingaperture through apparatus comprising a plurality of switches, one foreach pair of co-operatingcontacts on the film and device whereby theintensity of the illumination will be increased or reduced according tothe co-operation of different pairs of contacts on the film and devicerelating to different sections of the film.

4, Apparatus for the automatic printing m provided with contacts, adevice through which'said film is passed and provided with contactsadapted to co-operate with those on the film, a source of light adjacenta printing aperture past which the film is caused to travel, andelectrical connections from the contacts of said device to said sourceof light whereby the intensity of the light is increased or reducedaccording to the co-operation of different contacts on the film anddevice respectively.

5. Apparatus for the automatic printing of photographic films comprisinga film provided with a key contact and a plurality of other contacts atvarious distances therefrom for difierent sections of the film, a devicethrough which said film is passed and provided with contacts adapted toco-oper ate with those on the film in the passage of the latter throughthe device, a source of li ht adjacent a printing aperture past w ichthe film is caused to travel and elec trical means connecting thecontactsof said device with the source of light and includ' ing aresistance more or less of which is utilized to reduce or increase theintensity of the light according to the co-operation of differentcontacts on the film device corresponding to the aforesaid differentseo' tions'of film. 1

6; Apparatus for theautomatic printing of photographic films comprisinga gate having conductive contacts and through which an associated filmalso provided with j co-operating conductive contacts is adapted A '2'.Apparatus for the automatic printing of photographic films comprising agate having conductive contacts and through which an associated filmalso provided with co-operating conductive contacts is adapted to bepassed, a source of light adjacent a printin aperture past which thefilm is traversed, a switch device comprising a plurality of switchesone for each pair of cooperating gate and film contacts, circuitconnections from the contacts on the gate through said switch device tothe source of light, a resistance in said circuit connections betweenthe switch and the source of light, means for closing the switch whichcorresponds to a pair of co-operating contacts, and means for holdingopen all the remaining switches.

8. Apparatus for the automatic printing of photographic films comprisinga gate having conductive contacts and through which the film alsoprovided with co-operating conductive contacts is caused to pass, asource of light, a switch device comprising a number of switches, onefor each pair of co-operating gate and film contacts, each of saidswitches comprising a pair of electromagnets, an armature pivotedcentrally thereof and a mercury cup, circuit connec tions from said gatecontacts to each switch,

other circuit connections between the mercury cups of the switches andthe source of light and a resistance coupled to each switch in said lastmentioned circuit connections.

9. Apparatus for the automatic printing of photographic films comprisinga gate having conductive contacts and through which the film alsoprovided with co-opcrating conductive contacts is caused to pass, asource 01 light, a switch device comprisim a number of switches, one foreach pair or co-operating gate andfilm contacts, each oi said switchescomprising a pair of electromagnets, an armature pivoted centrallythereof, and a mercury cup, circuit connec tions from said gate contactsto each switch, other circuit connections between the mercury cups ofthe switches and the source of light, a resistance coupled to eachswitch in said last mentioned circuit connections, and means for shortcircuting one electromagnet of a pair when the switch containing thesemagnets is closed.

In witness whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo witnesses.

HENRY VASSAR LA'WLEY.

VVitnesses':

ALAN J. WILLIAMSON, KATHLEEN Asnwm.

